How the SAS used Stinger missiles to divert Argentina in the Falklands
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- In 1982, SAS troops were the first to fire a Stinger missile in combat.
They had been drafted in to distract Argentinian forces from the San Carlos landings, carried out by British soldiers in response to Argentina's invasion of the islands in April 1982.
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As an argentine military historian specialized in the Malvinas / Falklands War, I very much respect Lt. Gen. Mike Rose. I regard him along with Brig. Julian Thompson as likely the most effective british land senior officers in the conflict. He had a particular outstanding perfomance not only in the field, but also during the peace negotiation. What an interesting postwar story and indeed the world is a small place...
Great video, Congrats !
I don't think Julian Thompson or Mike Clapp, the guys who really did the work, would say the same of Mike Rose....
The SAS did not have an outstanding time in the Falklands, they almost completely ruined the retaking of South Georgia as a result of their arrogance, only being saved by the courage and resourcefulness of RN helicopter crews. The most useful SF task undertaken in the Falklands was the covert observation posts....a job mainly completed by the SBS...
And they spent a large portion of the war using their direct contact via satellite telephone with London to go around normal comms channels to get messages direct to Mrs Thatcher with harebrained schemes that consumed staff time before being discounted. This caused huge amounts of problems for the real professionals who were actually retaking the islands...Julian Thompson, Mike Clapp and Sandy Woodward, they commented on occasions on this....and they were being very diplomatic...
@@dogsnads5634 I insist with Lt Gen Rose´s great perfomance and must recall that all the brit Special Forces in Malvinas including the SBS and Mountain and artic warfare Cadre, were directly or inderectly under his command. You also mention Brig Julian Thompson as I did. Concerning commodore Clapp and admiral Woodward I said "british land senior officers". Despite both were competent, -and Clapp organized a successful landing in San Carlos-, neither Woodward nor Clapp were land officers. Regards
@@rodrigoquiroga8590 have you read Ghost Force by Ken Connor? He was the other person involved in the Stinger collection, and wrote quite an insightful chapter on the subject
@@rodrigoquiroga8590 *Falklands Islands
@@tomwithey711 In my first comment, precisely for respect to those fallen on the field on both sides, I didn´t put just Malvinas, I said Malvinas/Falklands.... Therefore your clarification is usless.
What a Guy. Now there is a Man who has been there, seen it and done it.
this channel deleted 5 links to israeli news explaining israel supplied Argentina with Exocet missiles to kill British servicemen
But gentlemanly enough not to wear the t-shirt.
@Chris-fr2kq 👍👍
British Legend....Walk softly with a checked shirt and a browning hi power in his pocket !
He should get the tattoo "Veni vidi vici" on his back.
I can't remember the book, but in one of the SAS biographies, the author had a follow up story to the effect that a few years later, some troopers were on a stinger training course in Germany and the class were asked if they'd seen one before; our man puts his hand up
Instructor - "was it on a training course?"
SAS troper - "nah, I shot down a jet with one"
Soldiers can shake hands - or hug - and move on, but it's the politicians who keep the pot boiling.
Politians do nothing but debate what should be happening. They are all a waste of breath
Let’s not forget that since WWII soldiers have gone to war for politicians, not for country.
aye. politicians are like hemorrhoids, when around, all they do is irritate and bleed.
Ordinary people are not enemies, politicians are the cause of most of the problems in the world.
@@johnhamilton2213
Not All Politicians.
Don't fall into the trap of saying, "They're all the same"
That's been inserted into the lexicon by those who would have us accept the step that comes next, "If they're all the same, why bother with an election?"
Remember that.
_Repeat_ that, to anybody who will listen.
Once there's no mechanism for choosing our rights, we will have none.
Zero.
And don't say "but guns" because they have tanks.
What a fantastic anecdote from General Sir Rose, well articulated and I always love hearing those little details you can only get from the horse's mouth like 2 Para being particularly concerned watching the attack plane line up as D Squadron had a large number of ex-Paras in it. He has definitely seen a lot, CO of 22 SAS and later on Director Special Forces... can only imagine the sort of operations he has overseen, this man deserves respect 100%
He's got some bits wrong though...
Stinger shot down another aircraft, a Puma helicopter, over Mount Kent later on...I suspect the changes made by Raytheon were fairly minor and only affected particular engagements.
@@dogsnads5634 standard procedure in combat as no matter how much you plan before hand there will always be mistakes made that’s just the unpredictability of war my friend..He’s only human like the rest of us but to focus on the bad points is a tad disrespectful to the men who fought..
@@Roscoe.P.Coldchain I think the old adage of "All plans go out of the window as soon as the first round is fired" applies.
Amazing that he was able to tell that Argentine pilot that he was the first to be shot down by a stinger missile.
this channel deleted 5 links to israeli news explaining israel supplied Argentina with Exocet missiles to kill British servicemen
Lehman: British Would Have Lost Falklands War Without U.S. Support
May 29, 1988
LONDON (AP) _ Britain would not have recaptured the Falkland Islands from Argentina in 1982 without U.S. military assistance, former U.S. Navy Secretary John Lehman was quoted Sunday as saying.
In a British Broadcasting Corp. television interview to be broadcast Wednesday night, Lehman also says U.S. involvement in the Falklands war led indirectly to the Irangate scandal, the Observer newspaper reported.
The weekly said Lehman’s interview will be included in the latest episode of ″An Ocean Apart,″ a BBC documentary series on British-American relations.
″Britain would have had to have withdraw from the Falklands″ if the Reagan administration withheld support, it quoted Lehman as saying.
U.S. military aid in the 74-day war, in which Britain recaptured the South Atlantic archipelago from invading Argentine forces, has been a closely guarded secret, the Observer said.
″Lehman is the first senior U.S. official to claim that the Pentagon’s supplies of intelligence and material were so great as to have been decisive,″ it said.
The newspaper quoted unidentified Pentagon sources as saying U.S. supplies during the war included 200 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles, eight Stinger anti-aircraft systems, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, mortar shells, satellite intelligence, communications facilities and use of a U.S. air base on Ascension Island.
Thanks for uploading!
I met Sir Rose in Tuzla (Simin Han, Bosnia to be precise), while serving during UNPROFOR mission in 1994.
An incredible man with an incredible career!
So understated
Great to see General Sir Micheal Rose, hail and hearty. An inspirational character whose leadership influenced many key events of the late 20th Century. A true warrior.
Absolutely heart warming to hear former adversaries of war showing such respect for each other. General Rose was always considered by me to be one "bad-ass" (as the Americans would say).
This is a thing that will probably never happen between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian orcs.
@@raimobrunning3657 I think unless they are elite units the soldiers on each side have a lot in common. I believe the Russian soldiers were lied to about being on an exercise at the start of the war. As the war progressed they can't do much as they could be shot for desertion. I've heard that the Russian Paratroopers were told that they were fighting NATO forces and were surprised when it turned out to only be Ukrainians.
Now that doesn't happen every day. An adventurous person has memories that others can't imagine. The guy who fired that missile had spent years of grueling training to earn the memory of doing that. Like tears in rain...
Nice to see Mike Rose is still with us.
A true British gentleman, one of a dying breed, much respect to to you.
A gentleman maybe but with the stealth and highly and deliberately unorthodox skills of a safebreaker, poacher...you name it for underhand crafts hehe
Imagine being in battle and having to read the handbook on how to use the Stinger , probably went something like - ' Congratulations of choosing the Raytheon Stinger missile system. Please read the instructions carefully and it should give you years of trouble-free aircraft downing. '
“Do not point at face!”😂
I read some other account where it was claimed that the soldiers were already reading the manual by the time the aircraft showed up. However, the one who launched the Stinger hadn't quite understood the instructions yet, and instead mostly guessed at which buttons to press.
That same account followed up with an anecdote about the same soldier later attending training for the Stinger at a US base in Germany and getting to really one-up the snarky instructor.
"the following will void your warranty..."
Thank you for your service sir, and a big shout out to all our armed forces and veterans 🇬🇧
Says the anonymous coward!
@@MichaelKingsfordGray ok troll 😂
I always read that the other stingers the SAS trooper tried to fire, failed because the hand unit needed recharging after each launch, which the guys didn't know. Never heard the story about broken parts
Fabulous story - there is much respect between the men of the two sides. certainly from Britain to Argentina. Two men who'd understand peace keeping indeed.
A superb story, given by a superb man.
Amazing interview
A lovely watch.
Fascinating story
Long past 'hanging up one's uniform,' these people are still 'warriors.'
Amazing Videos 🔛
Don't dispair these types are still around we aren't done yet.they're just resting.
An you’ve never been one of them 😂
@Alrightmate-x1j one of what?
I love the respect and camaraderie between opposing forces years later! I was an 11 year old kid when this war happened and followed the news closely. I joined the RAN in ‘88. We learned many lessons from the RN experiences.
You lie about your name!
I do NOT believe a word of it.
@@MichaelKingsfordGray believe what you like my friend, it is of no consequence to me.
Gentleman warrior, thank you Sir 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Amazing story and 30 years later both on same side in UN
~13 in the case of Balkan conflict.
And classy/respectful enough to call it as the Malvinas war to his face.
Great story!
Yes... a small world full of true heroes....
we in the UK are so lucky to have such amazing armed forces 👏👏👏
It's been decimated over the years sadly
past tense.. were lucky
Great stuff!😊
Huge respect to all who bravely fought for the nation.
It’s a small world indeed! 🙏🏿🙏🏿
'Who dares wins"
Massive respect to all who served especially the best the sas
Fascinating story!
Lovely story.
I love listening to these old soldiers, whatever rank! 😊
Great story👌
Brilliant!!! Great video. 😁😁
I just have to ask as an air force brat, why did you turn the tv off at 11pm??? Lol
That's some great user manual design!
Amazing story …! 😊
about 30 seconds in you can see the battle plan drawn on the map on the wall behind! I wonder if that was broadcast on the TV at the time?
Great story.
Fascinating 👍❤️🇬🇧
Didn't the first missile flop onto the heather? Then they re-read the pamphlet and fired again.
I was on a course and one of the other guys was an RAF Regiment 'missile gunner'. He explained how he had trained on the Rapier system, using simulators, dummies and so on, but had never fired a real one until the Falklands.
He aimed and fired at an Argentinian A4, the missile came off the launcher, and fell on the ground in front of his position. He was not a happy bunny about that. The main thing that upset him was that he was not allowed to bring it home as a souvenir.
I could listen to Rose talk all day. Such an interesting guy.
After WWII my grandfather Captain (E) Stott met by chance in a business meeting to buy a tanker, the German pilot who had sunk his ship, the cruiser HMS Coventry not far from Tobruk during Operation Agreement, a disastrous attempt to retake the city.
Fantatsic annecdotes … makes one realise the foolishness of war… that servicemen across the sides are engaging in something that is not really their fight and it’s good that real goodness of humanity can survive the wickedness of the battles.
It was nice as I shared the same aircraft as sir Michael recently as I flew down to the Falklands on a job I was doing
The democratic right to self determination of the Islanders is not foolish.
The actions of the military dictatorship trying to distract their citizens from their incompetence with a foreign adventure does show foolishness.
They failed...
@ I wasn’t saying that defending the islands was foolish but the way that wars continually are fought because one party feels the need to use a situation to their advantage at the expense of so many lives because the aggressor is not prepared to discuss the issue, simply because they themselves as individuals will stand to lose.
I am patriotic in the point of defending the Falklands as British sovereignty because we are the on,y nation that ever showed any commitment to the islands.
As a firmer RAF serviceman, despite being too young by a factor of 2 years to have been able to serve during the war, I did however arrive in 84 and on around 4 visits between 84 and 2002 carrying out the first stages in established telephone and digital data links between RAF Stanley HQ BBFI and the 3 mountain Radar sites. I did a further 3 tours maintaining HF transmitters at Bush Rincon and the radars at Mt Kent and Mt Alice. I also had the honour of being invited back down on 3 occasions in 2022 to train the techies working on the same radar.
I remain proud o have served there and have seen around 1 1/2 years of my life down there. It’s an amazing and very unique place. Sadly it’s unlikely I will ever see the islands again but I take away many fins memories.
Great story
Gotta love the SAS
For being terrorists yeah I no
That'll depend who you are. The terrorists who took over the Iranian Embassy in London during 1980 wouldn't agree, especially as all but one of them were slotted within 16 minutes of the SAS assault beginning. Only one survived, and he came close to getting his.... The SAS earn income from training the Special Forces of other nations. Germany in particular, has had their anti-terrorist Special Forces trained by the SAS since the Munich Olympic Games massacre.
Brilliant story.. Huzzah!! 😊
Truly historical snippet
Life gives us 'small world' incidents to make us think, hopefully triggering thoughts outside the box!
Amazing
The SAS and SBS were inserted by submarine onto the Falklands some time before the main UK force arrived. They scouted out and reported the locations and strength of the main Argentine defensive positions, which helped the UK Commanders choose the best sites to land their troops. One regrettable encounter took place during a night patrol (the Special Forces laid low in daytime) when an SBS patrol ran into an SAS one, and a firefight ensued. Unfortunately, one SBS soldier was killed..
And handed Blair his arse while apposing the gulf war. Hero
Mr Rose was also the boss in 39 inf bde HQ and signal sqdn in the province A great boss..
What stood out to me is that he asked the pilot if he had been in the Malvinas, and not the Falklands.
That because that's what it's called.
@@jablot5054 Yeah, to Argentinians. But he's British.
Shooting down a plane without having completed 30 hours of training and passed a weapon handling test? Well done that man, but you'd be on a charge these days. LOL
Well naturally, firing a weapon without adequate training is very dangerous
@@pepperroni6252 History is littered with men making things successfully go bang without proper training, and after the event, they often are given medals for it. Part of SAS training always, right from the start, included picking up any weapon, working out how to load it and which part will fire it. If you have just killed an enemy with the last bullet in your standard issue weapon, and his mates are not best pleased with you, being able to pick up whatever that man was carrying, and using it, might just allow you to live long enough to tell the story to your grandchildren.
@@harryfaber not disagreeing that it's handy to be able to do that but accidents can still happen and are more common if you're not familiar with the weapon system
What a dubious honour being the first pilot shot down by a stinger missile. I suppose that means that the guy who shot him down becomes the first to shoot down an aircraft with a stinger missile. A slightly less dubious honour I think🙂
General Rose is also one of the foremost deer management experts.
The world is baffled how a small nation packs a heavy punch
Are stingers effective against dinghies?
Lets give it a go
Wow, 😮it is a small world!
Crazy story that he met that Argie pilot in Bosnia
The supply of those stingers was not illegal. I dont know what what hes talking about.
US State Department had not yet cleared the CIA/Special Forces to hand over Stinger technology. Therefore it was illegal from the US gov perspective.
The US State Dept paper work had not yet been completed, and the Stingers were loaned to the UK forces.
3:38 oh sorry about that 😅
Unfortunately the Rapier air defence system proved to be mostly ineffective in The Falklands. I heard that the US commander at Fort Bragg, met an SAS operator, and pointed to a pile of crates, and said that he was going for a coffee. When the US officer returned, the crates and the SAS operator were gone. Were these the “borrowed” Stinger missiles?.
If the SAS can read the instructions, I think I can in future.
That it is sir meaning how it's a small world.
We probability have thousands of stinger missiles and variants now.
It wasn't the first, the Soviet Igla had shot down civilian aircraft in 1970's
@@heybabycometobutthead The USA had the Red Eye missile in the early 1960s.
Wow
A great leader… lead by example
Why the heck did he call it the ‘Malvinas’ war to the Argentinian?!
The whole point of the Falklands war was to defend its name, sovereignty and freedom of self determination.
He was showing respect to the Argentinian. I have no problem with that and I was there in 82.
@
I can understand the professional respect but not calling it the Malvinas. It’s like accepting their claim was correct. That your service and the sacrifices made were not justified.
Wars are the manifestation of the egos of monarchs, politicians, religious leaders and authoritarian dictators. Those who actually fight wars on behalf of these narcissistic sycophants are in the main brave, decent and humane people.
War serves absolutely no viable purpose for humanity.
The democratic right to self determination of the Islanders is a clear purpose.
The actions of the military dictatorship trying to distract their citizens from their incompetence with a foreign adventure does show malign ego.
They failed...
Also in charge when the SAS took the Iranian embassy in London
"a small world, isn't it?"
Op Black Buck planners have entered the chat.
A stinger in the tale.
All world, but wouldn't want to paint it
Very very small world.
Its a Small World isnt it just sums it up politicians should be on the front line.
en la 2 WW, si NO hubiese sido por estados unidos...los alemanes lo pasaban por arriba..
LOS. INGLESES. RESISTIERON. NUMEROSOS. BOMBARDEOS. LONDRES. SOLOS. !!!!!
Passed what by?
US spends millions developing kit, us Brits borrow it from a mate😁
Priceless!!
👍🏻
To be fair.. IT doesn't require much "training" or a "specialist" to shoot Stingers.
the Mujahedeen in Aholestan sure as hell never got sent to Fort Bragg to learn how to Shoot down Rooskie Hind's and Mil's.
How many Gurkhas u sent pls let us know
I don’t think any were sent there to fight in 1982 but there are some stationed there now as part of the defence force
@@kieranhughes4535 the brits sent them and also told the Gurkhas that their ration was in the Argentine side, so go get it....
Gurkhas never participated in any battle
The Gurkha Regiment was deployed but did not engage the Argentine forces, who surrendered before the Gurkhas were required.
@ then how come some of them downed helis
So lent a defective missile 🤦🏼♂️
The FIM-92 Stinger is a USA man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters and drones as the Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS). It entered service in 1981 and is used by the militaries of the United States and 29 other countries. It is principally manufactured by Raytheon Missiles & Defense and is produced under license by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany and by Roketsan in Turkey.
I love too the flexibility of The Regiment ( as 22 SAS is known to insiders ) .....blagging stuff and nicking stuff .....they are NOT the green army haha....example of adapting without any rigidity is in the 1970s over the water ( aka Northern Ireland ) when the Regiment started to get jealous of The Det ( aka 14 Int Coy ) and started to assign a number of 22 SAS troopers every year to learn the Det`s lockbreaking, IR photography and probably foot and car surveillance tradecraft ...
Those who have served in it often refer to it as just 22. And yes, 14 Int have quite a reputation too. Nowhere near as well known as the SAS (which I'm sure they'd prefer).
yes small world..let all politicians that want war let them and their familes fight it ...not us general folk.....then their wont be any wars ...
It's a funny ol' game. War.
hopefully in 30 years we will be able to talk in the same way with a Russian commander and shake hands.
That’s if he’s not busy stealing your washing machine.
Ive been/served in the flaklands but after the conflict as a follow-up protection for the islanders ⚔️🇬🇧💯
The last time Great Britain were great. Not just a brilliant victory, but an impossible one. Since then slow rot.
Oh sorry about that LOL
What a great story 🤔😳😂👍🏻
Winning a battle thousands of miles from home only to be invaded at Dover by small boats
And without a shot being fired. Our ancestors would be ashamed of us
This is not the channel for that. Suggest you look for a political channel
@chriswillis515 he is spot on though
We are not being invaded. It's cheap labour being brought in by boats because Brits are to lazy to work.
Does Raytheon still send out products it hasn't tested? Surely each batch is subject to test fires in combat conditions? Man; I'm surprised they weren't drummed out of business.
Argentina is melting down but does have money to send fighter jets to Ukraine? Mind boggling!